Words on the Picture (Pricefield)
by GalaxySauce
Summary: Max and Chloe leave Arcadia only to find that Max has become paranoid, and Chloe is not acting like herself at all. To add onto that, they each find photographs that the other kept that reads a special memory held close to their hearts... Warning: Swearing and some sensitive content, girlxgirl
1. Another Tornado Vision

Max ran away from the storm as fast as she possibly could.

She was running from it **again**.

She counted in her head.  
 _One, two, three… four… five… six?_

She couldn't concentrate on how much times she'd been caught in this situation.

But when she finally thought she was safe, the storm drew closer and closer towards her.

She tried to run.

But her feet were stuck on the ground.

 _Why the hell can't I freaking move?!_

Max looked down. Her feet weren't caught in anything. Her feet were free.

But she couldn't move.

"Help! Anyone! I'm stuck!" she called out.

There was no response except for the howl of the tornado.

Before she knew it, it was right in front of her. She was unstuck.

But she was dying.

"CHLOE! ANYONE! HELP-" she called out again, but before she could finish her sentence, she heard a female voice.

"Max!"

"Max, open your eyes!"

"Max!"

"Max?"

"Super Max!"

Max's eyes bolted open.

She was in Chloe's truck. Driving away from Arcadia.

"Chloe, oh, Chloe, I'm so ha-happy you- you w-woke me up, dear g-god..." Max panted. Her face was drenched in sweat and she was twitching.

"Okay, Super Max, what was your nightmare about?" Chloe asked. "Or day-mare, since, you know, it's..." She checked the time on the radio. "4 o' clock."

"I was- I, I- I was in a tornado, you know, the- the one that destroyed A-A-Arcadia." Max said, stuttering all the while.

"Max, calm down. The nightmare's over. Stop stuttering. Please?" Chloe asked.

"O-Okay..." Max tried to breathe deeply.

 _The nightmare is over… you can calm down now._

"Okay, Chloe, I think that I, um, I can tell you about the nightmare now."

"Shoot, Spider Max."

Max closed her eyes and tried to remember everything that happened. "I was in the storm, running away. I thought I was safe after running for a little while, but then I turned and the tornado was like, right in front of me. I tried to run but my feet were stuck in the grass. Then I h-heard someone yelling for me, and then I woke up."

"Damn, Max, that must have been crazy." Chloe said, rubbing Max's back.

"But we have, um, bigger problems to worry about." Max responded, exhaling in a sigh.

"Okay, yeah, so first… um… what's the first problem?" Chloe asked, turning the corner into a different town that neither of them knew the name of.

"Who's still- still- alive?" Max said, like she was forcing the word 'alive' out of her mouth.

"Um, right. So, you still have your phone, right?" Chloe asked, nodding over to Max's camera bag in the middle of the truck.

"Yeah. I'll text some people once we find somewhere to stay for the night." Max said, blinking away some dust.

"Not to sound awkward or anything, but we might be sleeping in this truck tonight." Chloe said. Now that Chloe had mentioned it, Max realized Chloe hadn't been acting like herself after she tore up the photo and sent it into the ocean.

"Hey, Chloe, what's wrong?" she asked.

"What's wrong? What do you mean?" Chloe responded, turning towards Max for a second.

"You, you're not acting like yourself. You're being really, like, I don't know how to say this, really, but, you're acting quite… kept to yourself." Max said, slightly murmuring.

"Oh..."  
"Just tell me what's wrong, Chlo-ster." Max playfully punched Chloe on the arm.

"It's just- this week has been hella insane. You appear all of a sudden, tell me you say me die, tell me you have rewind powers, Kate almost jumps off a roof, **you** save her, you actually **kiss** me, and- just- Rachel is dead, and just- god..." Chloe parks the truck at the side of the road and leans on the steering wheel.

Max felt oddly heartbroken, she couldn't explain it. She tried comforting Chloe, but she pushed Max's hand away and looked out of the window in a daze.

Max decided to keep her nosy mouth shut and turned on her phone.


	2. Photographs

Mere seconds after, Chloe turned back toward the wheel and sighed. "Okay Max, let's get this show on the road."

"...okay, Chloe…"

"Look, Maximus Prime, I'm sorry. I was getting emotional and shit like that. Just- I'm sorry." Chloe pulled the truck back on road.

"It's okay, really, I understand. Did you hear me up by the lighthouse?" Max chuckled despite the circumstances.

"Yeah, I heard you." Chloe laughed a little. "I treasured every vowel..." she muttered, then clearing her throat. "Okay, I think we can find a hotel or a motel or something that we can afford near here."

"How much money do you have?" Max asked, concerned.

"I dunno, you check my pockets, copper." Chloe said.

"I'm not searching your pockets." Max laughed.

"Dammit! The one time you're not nosy as hell..." Chloe said sarcastically.

"Really, Chloe? Stop teasing me!" Max whined, playfully punching Chloe's shoulder.

Their little moment lightened up the truck's atmosphere, and they both seemed more confortable with everything.

They drove in silence for a while, until Chloe realized something.

"Uh, shit, we need gas."

"We gotta be close to a station by now." Max said, looking around.

By the time they found one, the truck had almost no gas in it all.

"Okay, Super Max, got any bills for me?" Chloe asked, opening the door.

"Like from the handicapped fund? I think I still got some cash from that..." Max said, opening her camera bag.

"How much?" She asked, grabbing a wad of cash.

"Whoa! That's a hella lot of cash, Maximilian!" Chloe said, peering into the window.

Chloe started pressing the buttons on the machine until she figured out how much she needed for the old truck.

"I need… 50 bucks."

"Really? That's not too much, considering how I got 2,000 here..." Max handed her 60 dollars.

"Thanks Maxi-pad." Chloe began filling the truck with gas.

She took a look at the gas station and licked her lips.

"Max, want anything? I'm going to get us something to eat or drink or something."

"I dunno. Just find me something." Max said, shrugging.

"Gotcha, Super Max." Chloe left the truck and walked into the gas station.

Max looked next to her and saw something.

She looked closer.

It was a picture.  
A picture of Max.

It wasn't just a picture of her, though, it was a picture that Max and Chloe took earlier that week.

The picture portrayed both Max and Chloe smiling, in the early morning light.

 _Wait._

Max had taken that picture Wednesday morning, how did Chloe get it? She thought for sure she had put it in her camera bag along with all her other pictures.

Max picked it up and turned it over.

There was writing on the back.

 _Me and Max on Wednesday morning October 9, 2013_

Wow. Max wasn't expecting Chloe to write something like that on the back of a dumb selfie she took. It was sorta heartwarming.

Max looked up just in time to see Chloe walk out the doors of the gas station while holding a plastic bag.

She quickly put the picture down and searched through her phone, for a reason she didn't know.

"Hey Max!" Chloe said, opening the door of the truck and putting the bag on her seat. "Put this somewhere, I don't want to put it in the back. In case it rains."

Max picked up the bag and put it in the middle of the seats.

She turned around in her seat and saw Chloe finishing up with the gas.

A second later, Chloe hopped into the car.

"Alright Maxine hella Caulfield! Let's do this shit!"

"Chloe, it's Max. Not Maxine." Max said, laughing.

"Yep, okay! Gotcha! I know where a hotel is!" Chloe said happily.

"Really?"

"Yes yes yes! We can finally **sleep**!" Chloe said, starting up the truck and driving away.

"Okay, Chloe, calm down." Max said.

"Aah! You got me Caulfield!" Chloe said, still very jumpy.

"Chloe! Are you high right now?!" Max said, grabbing Chloe's shoulders and holding them down.

"Okay, I'm fine now. I just had a random adrenaline rush there. You know, about being able to sleep." Chloe said, chuckling.

"Okay?" Max said, pulling her hands away.

Later, they found the hotel. They checked in for a night.

Max lay down on the bed and sighed.

Chloe sat next to her.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"I'm freaking laying down." Max said, laughing.

"You can check your phone now, right?" Chloe asked, pointing towards Max's bag on the bedside table.

"Yeah." Max grabbed her phone from her bag.

It read '29 unread messages'.  
"29 messages." Max said, showing Chloe the screen.

"Why do you have Victoria's number?" Chloe asked.

"Um… I don't remember. I guess I just have it or something. I forgot." Max said, sitting up.

"I'm gonna go take a shower. You can read the texts and stuff." Chloe said, getting up and heading over to the bathroom.

"Okay!" Max waved as Chloe headed to the shower.

 _7 messages by Warren…_ she read.

'Hey Max are you ok? The storms insane here now'

'Max please answer'

'Max seriously are you ok?'

'I need a chem partner :('

'Max seriously you just like left'

'Joyce is worried too'

'ok the storms passed over let me know if you're ok please'

Max decided she had to respond.

'Hey Warren, I'm ok and so is Chloe I'm happy that you're ok :)'

The next thing she saw was 10 messages from Kate.

'Max? Where are you? You haven't texted me in a while.'

'Max, there's a tornado, are you okay?'

'Are you at the dorm?'

'Is Alice okay?'

'I'm safe, if you're worrying about me. The hospital is clear of the tornado.'

'Max, please answer. I'm worried about you.'

'The storm looks like it's passed over Arcadia by now.'

'My parents came to visit me. :)'

'They said I can leave the hospital now.'

'Max, no one in Arcadia can find you or your friend anywhere. Please let me know if you're okay.'

Max responded, happy that Kate was still alive. Bonus points that she's out of the hospital.

'Kate, I'm sorry I couldn't respond sooner. I was dealing with some stuff. I'm okay and so is my friend Chloe. We are outside of Arcadia now.'

There was 5 messages from Victoria.

'Max, there's a tornado. I feel dumb for asking if you're ok."

'Max?'

'Taylor says she's worried about you. I know you comforted her with her mom. Just like me.'

'Max, I know we got off on the wrong foot, but I think we can be friends.'

'Hey Max, the tornado's passed. I want you to know Jefferson is arrested. Who would've thought he'd be a creepy pedophile? Anyway, I know I sound like a nerd, but I want to know if you're ok.'

Max didn't know what to think. She had read Victoria's diary, but she didn't know that Victoria actually wanted to be her friend. She felt warmed just thinking about it.

'Hi Victoria, I'm happy you're ok. I'm ok along with my friend Chloe. Text me back please.'

There was 6 messages from Joyce.

'Is Chloe okay?'

'Are you okay?'

'Are you together?'

'We can't find you two anywhere.'

'Please let us know.'

'David's worrying too.'

She responded as simple as she could.

'Hi Joyce, me and Chloe are ok and we're together outside of Arcadia.'

There was one message from Nathan.

'max what the fuck? I'm going to jail I didn't do anything. I just want you to know that it was all jefferson… it was all that fucker's fault. I'm sorry for everything. Sincerely, Nathan.'

Max was definitely not sure what to think of that. She responded with something as heartfelt as she could say.

'Nathan? It's Max. I forgive you for everything. I'm sorry too. Please text me back.'

At that moment, Chloe walked out of the bathroom, wearing a bra, and a pair of pants. It wasn't every day that Max saw Chloe like that.

"Hey Max! Is everyone okay?" Chloe asked.

"I just know that Warren, Kate, Nathan, Victoria, David, and Joyce are okay. Not sure about anyone else." Max responded, putting her phone down.

"Nathan? That fucker is okay?" Chloe said, getting upset.

"He was being used by Jefferson. He apologized for everything." Max explained.

"...Oh...Well then is Jefferson okay?" Chloe asked.

"I doubt it. He did bad stuff Chloe..." Max said, looking away. "I experienced it myself."

"What? What did he do to you?!" Chloe asked, sitting closer to Max."

"He, um, he drugged me. He drugged me and took photos of me. My hands and legs were strapped together with duct tape. He also kidnapped Victoria. He killed you, before I rewound." Max said, blinking away some tears.

"Damn, Max… that really sucks. Are you okay after all that?" Chloe asked, genuinely worried.

"Yeah, it's just- sometimes I still think of it and have nightmares about it." Max said, sniffling.

"Come here..." Chloe said, gesturing for Max to move closer.

Max sniffled and fell onto Chloe.

After a while, Max fell asleep.

Chloe gently lay Max under the covers of the bed.

Chloe took a look through Max's camera bag. She didn't expect to find a picture of her.

It was a picture from when they were 13, dressed in their pirate gear.

Chloe picked it up and flipped it over.

There was writing on the back.

 _Me and Chloe as little kids being little pirates together_


End file.
